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Birmingham--Birmingham voters go to the polls next Tuesday to choose a new mayor. The winner of that race will serve out the remainder of former mayor Larry Langford's term. 14 candidates have thrown their names into the hat. This week, we'll bring you interviews with several of the major candidates.

Emory Anthony can list deputy district attorney and municipal judge on his resume. He's currently an attorney in private practice but would like to add mayor of Birmingham to that list. This week we're interviewing major candidates running for mayor. Birmingham voters select a new mayor on Tuesday. Anthony says the issues he would tackle as head of the city are education, transportation and jobs. He tells WBHM's Andrew Yeager even though Birmingham's public schools aren't under the mayor's control, he still believes he can provide support.

This is Jefferson County Commissioner William Bell's fourth run for the mayor's office. Bell tells WBHM's Tanya Ott that better education and job creation are key to moving the city forward. So is reducing crime.

Bell wants to establish a venture capital fund to help university researchers bring their ideas to the marketplace. Hear more about that in an
extended interview.

~ Tanya Ott, December 2, 2009

It's hard to find T.C. Cannon not sporting his trademark green UAB windbreaker these days. He's been making the rounds of media interviews and mayoral forums wearing the jacket, and whenever he gets a chance to speak in front of an audience he extolls on the potential of Birmingham and specifically UAB. But Cannon says both the city and the university are being held back by small-minded thinking and he wants to change that. The longtime Birmingham businessman (he's operated restaurants on Soutside and Lakeview District for nearly half a century) shared his vision with WBHM's Tanya Ott.

Patrick Cooper came in second in the 2007 mayor's race. He is selling himself as a political newcomer, a clean break from the politicians that have dominated Birmingham's political scene. Speaking with WBHM's Bradley George, Cooper says one of his priorities as mayor would be jobs for the chronically unemployed. He plans to put them to work taking care of the city's parks and working in the library system. Patrick Cooper says despite Birmingham's recent budget issues, he knows how to pay for his jobs plan.

When Scott Douglas and his wife moved to Birmingham decades ago for her to attend UAB, Douglas was unemployed and he likes to joke "that's a transferable skill". In Birmingham he worked odd jobs, but had to turn to Greater Birmingham Ministries for help. He started volunteering, then joined the board. And for the past 16 years, he's been executive director of the organization. Douglas tells WBHM's Tanya Ott his work gives him a unique perspective on what the city needs.

'An economic recruiting frenzy.' Steven Hoyt says that will be the first thing he does as Mayor of Birmingham. Hoyt is one of more than a dozen candidates wanting to be the city's next mayor. He's serving his second term on the City Council, where he's President Pro Tem and chair of the economic development committee. As mayor, Hoyt says he'll recruit 10 business to the city each year. He tells WBHM's Bradley George that Birmingham needs to be competitive with cities around the world.

In addition to his economic proposals, Hoyt says he wants to build 7,000 new homes in the city each year. Hoyt talks about that plan in anextended interview.

~ Bradley George, December 4, 2009

Dr. Stephanie Sigler Huey is making her second run for the Birmingham mayor's office. Her first campaign, in 2003, followed an unsuccessful bid for mayor in Denver, Colorado in 1999. Huey is a Birmingham City School teacher who, through her work as a pastor, ministers at the Firehouse Shelter. She says she doesn't want voters to "elect" her. She wants them to "hire" her for two years, then renew her contract if they're happy with her performance. She spoke with WBHM's Tanya Ott.

Jody Trautwein may be best known for unwittingly appearing in the film Bruno, but he takes his run for mayor very seriously. He says his experience as a pastor and school teacher prepare him to tackle some of the city's biggest problems. But he tells WBHM's Tanay Ott that his first order of business is drawing on his experience in finance to get the city's books back in order.

Fiscal responsibility and ethics reform headline Jason Sumners' political agenda, but he's also got his mind set on bigger, statewide issues like rewriting the Alabama Constitution. This the UAB political science student's first foray into politics himself, and he tells WBHM's Tanya Ott he's embracing the role of political outsider.